A zoning use denial is causing the Licking Heights School District – with considerable reluctance, officials on both sides note – to take the City of Pataskala and its Board of Zoning Appeals to court.

Licking Heights filed an appeal with the county’s Court of Common Pleas following a Pataskala Board of Zoning Appeals’ decision that stalls construction of the district’s new, $59 million high school.

In a letter recently sent to district parents and others, Superintendent Dr. Philip Wagner wrote in part, “It seems inconceivable that one public agency needs to explore legal remedies against another and is not the way we prefer to do business. Our partnership with the City of Pataskala is longstanding and cooperative… Though we are concerned, this is not a crisis; we have decisions to make about how to move forward. I have temporarily halted our $59 million high school building project…”

On Sept. 11, the zoning appeals board voted 3-1 (one member also abstained for reasons not stated, according to officials) to reject a conditional use permit to shift zoning use from a piece of property purchased by the school district from agricultural-residential to school use.

Working on an aggressive timeline to meet a planned August, 2020-21 school year opening, the district had intended to begin work prepping the site this week, with some earth-moving Monday, and a groundbreaking ceremony to take place Tuesday.

Instead, on Tuesday, Wagner and Pataskala Council President Tim Hickin were conducting joint interviews with the media regarding the last-minute development that has stalled school construction.

Wagner, who sat in on two hearings before the BZA in August and September, said Tuesday afternoon the BZA’s reservations seemed to him to focus largely on traffic and attendant cost impacts for Cable and Summit roads.

In an effort to mitigate those concerns, entry ways for the new school to be constructed adjacent to the existing high school were adjusted in the design process. Allowances were also made for de-acceleration lanes, Wagner noted.

As planned, the present high school would become the district’s middle school when the new high school goes online.

Wagner said Tuesday the district had also offered to stagger the side-by-side schools’ arrival and departure times by 30-minutes to further ease traffic impact.

While Wagner and Hickin both expressed concern about one Pataskala public entity taking another to court, Hickin said under Pataskala Charter, the council and administration have no authority to override a BZA decision.

While council members and the mayor are voter elected positions, the BZA consists of five appointed citizens.

The only appeals process left the school district by law is through the Licking County Court of Common Appeals, Wagner and Hickin said.

Both remain hopeful, they said, that some sort of settlement can be arrived at by all of the critical local stakeholders before the appeal would have to go through a full court process.

Wagner said it’s been indicated to him the latter process could take six to eight months and would be a devastating blow to the overcrowded district, which is operating out of 12 rented modular classrooms at the high school, the contacts for which expire in June 2020.

A full appeals process, Wagner said, even if favorable to the district, would set the project back at least a year, he said.

“With a court decision,” Wagner said, because of timelines, “it’s a loser either way.”

“Dr. Wagner’s point is well taken,” Hickin said. “Waiting will hurt. I hope waiting is not the only option.”

Hickin said, “I’m only one of seven (council members), but I’m optimistic council, the administration and schools might find a way to meet the concerns of the BZA and move the process forward (through a settlement).”

Both noted as word began to leak out on social media regarding the impasse resulting from the BZA denial, parents began to ask what they might do to reverse the situation.

For now, the school superintendent and council president ask for patience: “Let’s try to trust the process,” Wagner said. “There’s an open dialogue among schools, city administration and council.”

But Wagner also said, “These are growing pains, but the timelines are very tight and the consequences very great.”